Maxtor Corporation

Duc Bahn

Erhard Theodor Schreck

Michael L Mallary

Donald Joseph Brunnett

Francis P Crimi

Bruce C Schardt

Kazuhiro Saito

Scott A Hughes

Andrew LeFebvre

Thao Anh Nguyen

Xiaoping Hu

Brian D Strom

Mark Heimbaugh

Jingbo Yu

Douglas J Krajnovich

Chris Hawks

Joerg Ferber

Hyunchul Shim

A method for manufacturing a first disk drive includes incorporating a first storage disk having a first storage surface, and a first slider having a first read/write head and a slider mover into the first disk drive. Further, the first read/write head is movably positioned a first head-to-disk spacing relative to the first storage surface. The method also includes determining an incremental power level necessary to be delivered to a second slider mover of a second slider having a second read/write head to adjust a second head-to-disk spacing relative to a second storage surface by a predetermined increment. In addition, the method includes adjusting a first head-to-disk spacing by directing an operational power level to the first slider mover. The operational power level is derived from the incremental power level. The step of determining an incremental power level can include directing power to the second slider mover and detecting approximately when a portion of the second slider first contacts the second storage surface. Moreover, the step of adjusting can be performed during one or more manufacturing operations of the first disk drive.

Method for adjusting head-to-disk spacing in a disk drive

A disk drive includes a rotatable storage disk, an actuator motor, a slider that magnetically interacts with the storage disk, and a drive circuitry. A portion of the slider moves between a first position wherein the slider does not contact the storage disk and a second position wherein the slider contacts the storage disk. The drive circuitry can detect when the position of the slider changes between these positions. In one embodiment, the drive circuitry monitors off-track movement of the slider to detect when the slider has moved between these positions. The drive circuitry can also current that is directed to the actuator motor that is used to compensate for off-track movement to detect when the slider moves between these positions. In yet another embodiment, the drive circuitry monitors a rotational velocity of the storage disk to detect approximately when the slider moves between these positions.

System for detecting a change in head-to-disk contact status in a disk drive

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Duc Bahn